The most ancient known miniatures date from the very commencement of that period which is generally called the Middle Ages; that is to say, from the third and fourth centuries. These paintings, of which there exist but two or three specimens in the libraries of Europe, nevertheless offer, in their correctness and masterly beauty, the great characteristics of ancient Art. The most celebrated are those of the “Virgil,” preserved in the Vatican Library ([Fig. 348]), a manuscript long celebrated among learned men for the authenticity of its text. Another “Virgil,” of the date of about a century later, and which, before its presentation to the Pope, was one of the most beautiful ornaments of the ancient library of the Abbey of St. Denis, in France, contains paintings not less remarkable in respect of colour, but very inferior as far as drawing and the style of the compositions are concerned. These two incomparable examples are sufficient in themselves to show the state of the painting of manuscripts at the beginning of the Middle Ages.
Fig. 348.—Miniature taken from the “Virgil” in the Library of the Vatican, Rome.
(Third or Fourth Century.)
The sixth and seventh centuries have left us no books with miniatures; the utmost we find at that period are some capital letters embellished by caligraphy. In the eighth century, on the contrary, the ornaments were multiplied, and some rather elegant paintings can be pointed out; the fact is, under the reign of Charlemagne a movement of renovation took place in the Arts as in literature: the Latin writing, which had become illegible, was reformed, and the style of painting manuscripts assumed something of the form of the fine antique examples still extant at that period. ([Fig. 350].)
Fig. 349.—Painted Capital letters, taken from Manuscripts of the Eighth or Ninth Century.
